PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Militants opened fire on a police vehicle and killed two officers on Thursday in restive northwest Pakistan before fleeing the scene, police said, a sign of increasing violence ahead of a summit of an Asian security grouping in the capital, Islamabad. 

Hours later, the military said it killed four militants in North Waziristan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.

The latest attack on police happened in the city of Tank, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, local police official Sher Afzal said. 

No group has claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, who often target security forces. 

The TTP are outlawed in Pakistan. They are separate from but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban who control neighboring Afghanistan. 

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence in recent months. 

On Wednesday, a suicide bomber dispatched by the Baloch Liberation Army, an outlawed separatist group, struck a convoy carrying Chinese nationals outside an airport in Karachi on Sunday, killing two engineers and wounding another. 

The latest violence comes ahead of the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which will take place in Islamabad on October 15. 

The Asian group was established in 2001 by China and Russia to discuss security concerns in Central Asia. Its other members are Iran, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. 

The killing of the Chinese has drawn condemnation from Pakistan’s leaders. 

On Thursday, President Asif Ali Zardari visited the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad, where he met with Ambassador Jiang Zaidong to offer condolences. Zardari denounced the attack and promised that those behind it would be punished, a government statement said. 

Also on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a news conference in Beijing that “China will work with Pakistan to protect the safety and security of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan.” 

But she said she didn’t know if the movement of the Chinese nationals was being restricted because of the summit. Security in Islamabad was beefed up, with the authorities deploying troops, shutting schools and closing two restaurants on the road that will take guests from the airport to the summit venue. 

Thursday’s developments came a day after at least three people were killed in clashes in the northwestern town of Jamrud between police and supporters of a banned organization, the Pashtun Protection Movement, or PTM, which authorities say supports TTP. 

The government has also barred PTM from holding rallies in the northwest, allegedly because the demonstrations are against the interests of Pakistan. PTM denies backing the Pakistani Taliban, and tension was growing Thursday after the group vowed to resist the ban on its rallies. 
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JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia’s immigration officers on the tourist island of Bali have arrested a Chinese suspect sought by Beijing for helping run over $14 billion investment scam to clients in China, officials said Thursday.

The 39-year-old man, identified only by his initial, LQ, was arrested on October 1, when an immigration auto-gate in Bali’s Ngurah Rai international airport denied him departure for Singapore.

The biometric data in the computer registry at the airport identified him as a suspect wanted by Beijing, which led to his arrest, according to Silmy Karim, the immigration chief at Indonesia’s law and human rights ministry. He had been listed on an Interpol warrant since late September.

The suspect first arrived in Bali from Singapore with a Turkish passport as Joe Lin on September 26, just a day before Interpol released a so-called Red Notice for him, a request to law enforcement agencies worldwide to detain or arrest a suspect wanted by a specific country.

Indonesian authorities brought the suspect, wearing a detainee’s orange shirt and a facemask, before reporters to a news conference Thursday in the capital of Jakarta. The suspect did not make any statements and was not asked any questions.

“He was wrong to use Indonesia as a transit country, let alone as a destination country to hide,” said Karim, lauding technological advances and cooperation between immigration and the national police.

Krishna Murti, the chief of the international division of the National Police, said the decision to deport or to extradite the suspect to China will take some time. Indonesia needs to confirm whether he has truly become a Turkish citizen in the meantime or if he used a fake passport to enter Indonesia.

“We have to respect the suspect’s rights,” Murti said, adding that the suspect has not committed any violations inside Indonesia.

The man was named as a suspect by Beijing, which requested the Red Notice from Interpol, after he allegedly collected more than 100 billion Chinese Yuan ($14 billion) from more than 50,000 people in a Ponzi scheme.

Indonesia, an archipelago nation on the crossroads between Asia and the South Pacific, is attractive to local, regional and global organized crime because of its geographical location and its multi-cultural society.

Last month, Indonesia arrested Alice Guo, a fugitive former mayor of a town in the Philippines accused of having links to Chinese criminal syndicates. She has since been deported to the Philippines.

In June, Chaowalit Thongduang, one of Thailand’s most wanted fugitives, was escorted back to Thailand on a Thai air force plane after being arrested in Bali following months on the run in connection with several killings and drug trafficking charges in his homeland.
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MELBOURNE, Australia — China will resume importing Australian live lobsters by the end of the year, removing the final major obstacle to bilateral trade that once cost Australian exporters more than 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion) a year, Australia’s prime minister said Thursday. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made the announcement after meeting Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian summit in Vientiane, Laos. 

The ban on lobsters was the last of a series of official and unofficial trade barriers that Beijing has agreed to lift since Albanese’s center-left Labor Party government was elected in 2022. 

“I’m pleased to announce that Premier Li and I have agreed on a timetable to resume full lobster trade by the end of this year,” Albanese told reporters. 

“This of course will be in time for Chinese New Year, and this will be welcomed by the people engaged in the live lobster industry,” he added. 

Albanese has given assurances that relations with China have been improved without compromising Australian interests. Beijing is unhappy with restrictions Australia has placed on some Chinese investments because of security concerns. 

“What’s important is that friends are able to have direct discussions. It doesn’t imply agreement, it doesn’t imply compliance, and I’ll always represent Australia’s national interest. That’s what I did today. It was a very constructive meeting,” Albanese said. 

“I’m encouraged by the progress that we have made between Australia and China’s relationship in producing stabilization to the benefit of both of our nations and with the objective of advancing peace and security in the region,” Albanese added. 

China’s embassy in Australia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. 

Australian lobster exports to China had been worth $700 million Australian dollars ($470 million) in 2019. 

Beijing ended trade with Australia in 2020 on a range of commodities including lobster, coal, wine, barley, beef and wood as diplomatic relations plumbed new depths. 

Conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison had angered Beijing that year by demanding an independent investigation into the origins of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Tom Ryan, a manager at lobster exporter Five Star Seafoods at Port MacDonnell in South Australia state, said he was disappointed that his trade would be the last to resume with China. 

“It’s been a long time coming,” Ryan told Australian Broadcasting Corp. of Albanese’s announcement. 

“Between myself and other people in Port MacDonnell, it’s an absolute relief,” he added. 

The industry had found new markets for lobster products but at lower profit margins, Ryan said. 

Li said during a state visit to Australia in June that he had agreed with Albanese to “properly manage” their nations’ differences. 

Beijing had severed minister-to-minister contacts during the conservatives’ nine years in power.
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WASHINGTON — Sharadiya Durga Puja, the largest Hindu festival in Bangladesh, started Wednesday under a cloud of concern following recent acts of vandalism. Reports of idol desecration in various regions have raised concerns about the safety of religious minorities.

On Tuesday, vandals damaged five idols at the Sajjankanda District Road Transport Owner Oikya Parishad temple in Rajbari. This is the latest incident of vandalism of Durga idols reported in the media.

Ranadash Dasgupta, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council’s general secretary, told VOA, “In the last 15 days, idols of Durga Puja have been damaged in 19 Puja [ritual prayer] pavilions in 14 districts of the country.”

Dasgupta said Hindu minorities are worshipping in fear of attacks.

“The minority community is in a sense of trauma. While they want to celebrate Puja, they also feel the risk of attack,’ he said.

Longtime lawyer Subrata Chowdhury said attacks on Hindu minorities have been taking place since the country became independent.

“The first attacks on Durga idols took place in Chattogram and Dhaka in 1972. Since then, hundreds of such attacks have taken place. Justice was not ensured in any of these incidents and perpetrators not identified,” Chowdhury told VOA.

According to a report by Ain O Salish Kendro, a Dhaka-based human rights organization, there were 12 attacks on religious minorities, 17 temples set on fire, five people injured and three homes attacked in 2022. In 2023, there were 22 incidents of violence, 43 idols vandalized, five reported home invasions and 19 people injured.

“Law enforcers have failed miserably here,” Chowdhurry said, “and we saw the judiciary’s reluctance to ensure fair trial over such incidents.”

Dasgupta said that violence against Hindu minorities continues because attackers face no consequences.

Heightened security in Puja pavilions

Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman announced on October 5 that the Bangladeshi Army has made extensive preparations to ensure security during Durga Puja.

The interim government has issued directives to maintain order, including deploying police, the Rapid Action Battalion and all local forces.

Inspector General of Police Mohammad Moinul Islam confirmed increased security at 31,000 festivals. Several arrests have been made, and police officials in Barisal, Pabna and Kishoreganj have been removed following vandalism incidents.

Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser Mahfuz Alam said Tuesday that action would be taken on complaints and that financial assistance would be provided to those affected.

But recent reports of vandalism have left many unsatisfied with the security measures.

Moni Mitra, who works for an online news outlet in Dhaka, said, “Every year before the start of Puja, we get reports of attacks in different parts of the country. This time too was no exception. We want to perform the Puja without fear. This is what we as a citizen of the country want from the government.”

Concern in India over safety of minorities

India has voiced concerns about idol vandalism and the safety of Hindus in Bangladesh. Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on October 4 that concerns for minority safety include Durga Puja and Vijayadashami. He urged the Bangladeshi government to ensure security for minority communities.

In response, Bangladeshi Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hosasin said Bangladesh will address any attacks on puja mandaps without foreign interference.

The Indian government on several other occasions expressed concerns over the safety and security of minorities in Bangladesh since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government on August 5.

At a news conference on September 18, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council reported 2,010 incidents of communal violence across the country from August 4 to 20.

They included nine deaths, four rapes or gang rapes, and attacks on 69 places of worship, which were vandalized or set on fire.

Additionally, 953 businesses were attacked, vandalized, looted, or burned. The organization also reported 38 cases of physical assault and 21 instances of illegal land and business seizures.

US concerned, too

Concerns about the safety of religious minorities in Bangladesh were also raised by the United States.

On September 20, the chairs of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee — Senators Ben Cardin, Chris Murphy, Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley — wrote to the chief adviser of the interim government, urging stronger law enforcement and prompt action against those responsible for attacks on vulnerable communities, including Hindus.

On September 26, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus. They discussed strengthening the partnership between the countries and highlighted the need to protect human rights for all Bangladeshis, particularly minority communities.

This story originated in VOA’s Bangla Service.
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Islamabad, Pakistan — Afghanistan’s Taliban said Thursday that Uzbekistan had accepted their appointed ambassador, and both sides marked the action as an important advancement in strengthening diplomatic ties between the neighboring countries.

The action is seen as a rare diplomatic achievement for the internationally isolated Taliban leaders since they regained control of the country three years ago.

Until now, China and the United Arab Emirates were the only two countries that had formally accredited a Taliban-appointed ambassador since Afghan insurgents regained power in Kabul.

None of the three nations has recognized the Taliban as the official government of Afghanistan, and neither has the rest of the world, citing concerns about inclusivity, terrorism, and restrictions on women’s access to education and work.

The Taliban’s foreign ministry identified its diplomat to Tashkent as Sheikh Abdul Ghafar Bahr, saying he formally presented a copy of his credentials to Uzbek Minister of Foreign Affairs Bakhtiyor Saidov on Wednesday.

“Bahr described the upgradation of bilateral relations as a pivotal phase, hoping for further progress,” the Taliban quoted their ambassador as saying at Wednesday’s ceremony to welcome him in the Uzbek capital.

The statement quoted Saidov as noting that “both countries enjoy shared interests and have achieved substantial economic growth over the past three years.” The Taliban said that Bahr “is expected to present his original letter of credence” to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan.

“Our countries share a common history and interests of prosperity that serve as an impetus for the development of cooperation ties in all areas,” Saidov said on his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, after Wednesday’s ceremony. “We also discussed the acute topics on bilateral, regional, and global agendas,” the Uzbek foreign minister wrote.

 The Taliban separately stated Thursday that their Ministry of Mines and Petroleum had signed a 10-year contract with an Uzbek company for the exploration and extraction of gas in Afghanistan.

The announcement said the agreement requires the Uzbek company to invest $100 million in the first year and $1 billion over the next 10 years. The investment will target the gas reserves of the Totimaidan field in the northern Afghan province of Faryab, which spans an area of about 7,000 square kilometers.

Russia reported last week that a “principal decision” had already been made to remove the Taliban from its list of transnational terrorist organizations, saying relevant Russian agencies were “putting finishing touches” on the delisting in line with federal law.

U.S.-led Western countries have been pressing the Taliban to reverse restrictions on women’s freedoms and their right to education as well as employment before they could consider engaging diplomatically with Kabul. Washington also wants the de facto Afghan rulers to address regional and international terrorism concerns.

“We have not changed our designation of the Taliban as a specially designated global terrorist organization, and we continue to make clear that any significant steps towards normalization of relations is contingent upon a profound shift in the Taliban’s human rights conduct,” Matthew Miller, the U.S. State Department spokesperson said on Tuesday.

“We continue to work with our allies and partners to press the Taliban to reverse their discriminatory edicts, and we make sure that any significant steps toward normalization of relations are contingent upon profound improvements in their treatment of women and girls, including but not limited to allowing women and girls back in school and lifting the restrictions on women’s employment,” Miller explained.

Taliban leaders defend their governance, arguing that it is in line with their interpretation of the Islamic law of Sharia. They also rejected criticism of their curbs on Afghan women’s access to education, employment, and public life at large.

Abdul Kabir, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for political affairs, reportedly said Thursday that their government aims to maintain positive relations with all countries. However, he emphasized that “they will not sacrifice Islamic principles or values to please others.”

Kabir asserted in his remarks that the Taliban are currently in control of “40 diplomatic missions in different countries and engagement with the world is moving in a positive direction.”
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HONG KONG — A Hong Kong court rejected jailed publisher Jimmy Lai ‘s request to have a jury trial for his libel case against a pro-Beijing newspaper Thursday, the latest setback for the activist who suffered multiple blows in other legal battles.

Lai, the founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, is one of the city’s leading activists who was prosecuted under a sweeping national security law during Beijing’s crackdown on dissent. He has been the subject of criticism by pro-Beijing media outlets for years.

The 76-year-old brought the case against Ta Kung Pao in 2020, alleging that the publication had maliciously suggested he was planning to illegally abscond from the city and would breach his bail condition.

On Thursday, judge Queeny Au Yeung ruled against Lai’s bid, saying the case requires a prolonged examination of documents.

“(It) is not suitable for jury trial and plainly not suitable for putting only one or some questions to the jury, leaving the rest to the trial judge,” she wrote in her judgment.

The libel case centered on an article published by Ta Kung Pao headlined “Leaders who create chaos in Hong Kong plotting escape, escape route exposed, charge one million dollars” on June 25, 2020. The article named Lai as a potential suspect who intended to abscond and evade criminal liability.

The paper denied the libel charge.

Many of Hong Kong’s most prominent activists were arrested, forced into self-exile or silenced since the 2020 security law came into force. Lai’s Apple Daily was shut down after the arrests of its top management in 2021. The closure was widely seen as an erosion of freedoms that were promised when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Lai has suffered setbacks in his landmark security trial. Last December, judges rejected his bid to throw out a sedition charge against him. The court last year also refused to overturn Hong Kong national security authorities’ decision to block him from hiring veteran British lawyer Timothy Owen. Lai will testify in court in his defense for that security trial next month.

Lai is now serving a jail term of over five years after being convicted in a separate fraud case. He has been in custody since December 2020.

The U.S. and U.K. governments have called for Lai’s release and have criticized the security law, which the Beijing and Hong Kong governments say is necessary for the city’s stability. 
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TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan celebrated its National Day holiday Thursday against the background of threats from China, which claims the self-governing island republic as its own territory.

The celebration marks the establishment of the Republic of China, which overthrew the Qing Dynasty in 1911 and fled to Taiwan as Mao Zedong’s Communists swept to power on the mainland during a civil war in 1949. Taiwan was run under martial law until transitioning to full democracy in the 1980s and 1990s but maintains the original constitution brought from China and the ROC flag.

President Lai Ching-te took office in May, continuing the eight-year rule of the Democratic Progressive Party that rejects China’s demand that it recognize Taiwan is a part of China. The Nationalists adhere to a unification stance that recognizes both sides of the Taiwan Strait as a single nation.

Thursday’s commemorations were to include speeches by Lai and others, performances in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei, including an honor guard, military marching band and overflight by military aircraft, but no display of heavy military equipment as seen in years past.

Maintaining its military pressure on Taiwan, China’s People’s Liberation Army sent 15 planes across the median line in the Taiwan Strait, prompting Taiwan to scramble jets, dispatch ships and activate missile systems.
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taipei, taiwan — China has used transnational harassment and intimidation to prevent Chinese people living in Japan from engaging in protests and activism, a new report by Human Rights Watch said.

Most of the 25 Chinese people interviewed by Human Rights Watch, including ethnic minorities from Xinjiang, Tibet and Inner Mongolia, said Chinese police have warned them, sometimes through their relatives in China, against taking part in activities or peaceful protests critical of the Chinese Communist Party and its rule over China.

“Several ethnic Uyghurs from Xinjiang said that Chinese authorities contacted them through their relatives back home, and the police told them to either stop their anti-Chinese government activities in Japan or pressed them to share information about Japan’s Uyghur community,” the report said.

Analysts say that while Chinese authorities haven’t used physical violence to intimidate Chinese people in Japan, they are still able to deter them from continuing their activism abroad.

“Beijing’s strategies targeting the Chinese diaspora community in Japan are sophisticated, because while they keep their threats relatively low-key — which is less likely to attract the Japanese government’s attention — it’s still enough to scare members of the diaspora community,” Teppei Kasai, Asia program officer at Human Rights Watch, told VOA by phone.

Some Japanese experts say Beijing’s transnational repression has created a chilling effect within the Chinese diaspora in Japan.

“More and more Chinese and Hong Kong people in Japan are minimizing their participation in public events, especially those related to sensitive issues, because they are concerned about facing retaliation from the Chinese government,” said Tomoko Ako, a China studies professor at the University of Tokyo.

The Chinese foreign ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Japan didn’t respond to VOA’s requests for comments.

When responding to a similar question in August, the Chinese Embassy in Washington told VOA that China “strictly abides by international law and fully respects the law enforcement sovereignty of other countries.”

Targeting activists’ families

Human Rights Watch said Chinese authorities often try to intimidate activists in Japan by targeting their family members in China.

In one case, a Chinese activist in Japan told Human Rights Watch that local police in Inner Mongolia interrogated his relatives, restricted their freedom of movement and prevented them from getting their passports after he took part in public protests against the Chinese government’s policy of replacing the Mongolian language with Mandarin Chinese at school.

The activist, who used the pseudonym A.B. because of security concerns, said the pressure his family members face has instilled in him a sense of guilt.

“My [relatives] tell me they’re afraid of the pressure they’re feeling, and that has been tough on me,” he told Human Rights Watch.

In another case, Hong Kong activist Alric Lee told VOA that his parents received a letter listing all the activities he had joined in Japan and demanded that they publicly apologize for “his wrongdoings.”

“They were asked to apologize for what I’ve done in Japan and publicly renounce their relationship with me,” he said in a phone interview, adding that his parents asked him to stop his activism in Japan after receiving the letter.

Since the letter included detailed records of his activities in Japan, Lee said he thought the threat might have been initiated by the Hong Kong government.

In addition to threats against family members, Lee said he and other members of the Hong Kong diaspora in Japan have been followed by unknown individuals after organizing or taking part in public activities.

Lee said these threats have forced him to reevaluate the potential consequences of his activism in Japan.

“I’m definitely thinking twice before taking part in activities, but since I don’t think I have done anything wrong, I don’t think I’ll change anything concerning my activism in Japan,” he told VOA.

No confidence in Japan

Despite the threats, some Chinese people told Human Rights Watch that they didn’t seek help from the Japanese police because of fear of reprisal or because they didn’t think doing so would resolve the problems they were facing.

“Some people said they think Japanese authorities can’t do much about what the Chinese police have done to them, and they feel that the Chinese government would find out if they try to seek help from the Japanese police,” Kasai told VOA.

In a written response to inquiries from VOA, the Japanese foreign ministry declined to comment on transnational repression against Chinese people in Japan and what the Japanese government can do to safeguard their basic rights. Officials said both matters were related to “foreigners in Japan.”

Ako said the Japanese government’s reluctance to comment on Beijing’s transnational repression against Chinese people in Japan reflects Tokyo’s attempt to avoid increasing tensions between the two countries.

“The Japanese government probably doesn’t want to heighten tensions with China, but I think it is their basic responsibility to publicly comment on this concerning trend that’s happening in Japan,” she told VOA by phone.

Kasai said since Japan and 54 other countries at the U.N. Human Rights Council condemned transnational repression and vowed to hold those responsible accountable in June, Tokyo should consider establishing mechanisms to help protect the basic rights and safety of those being intimidated.

“The Japanese police should try to create a system that allows Chinese people to report their experiences of facing transnational repression initiated by the Chinese government,” he told VOA, adding that such a system should include safeguards for individuals’ privacy.

Kasai and Ako said they thought the Japanese government should go further.

“I think human rights should remain an important aspect of Japan’s bilateral engagement with China, so I believe Tokyo should try to raise the issue of Beijing’s transnational repression against Chinese people in Japan during bilateral meetings,” Ako said.
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Islamabad — Pakistan has justified its decision to outlaw a regional ethnic rights movement, citing alleged incitement of violence against the state and attempts to establish a “parallel judicial system” under the guise of peaceful public gatherings.

The group, known as the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), has openly criticized the powerful Pakistani military and mainly gets support from residents of the militancy-hit northwestern tribal districts bordering Afghanistan.

On Sunday, the government listed the PTM as a proscribed organization, saying it was engaged in activities “prejudicial to the peace and security of the country.” The ban drew backlash from local and international human rights groups.

Wednesday, Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told a televised news conference in Islamabad that PTM leaders were using “abusive language” against security institutions at their rallies and promoting “racial discrimination” in Pakistan.

The ban under the country’s anti-terrorism law allowed authorities to seal PTM offices, assets and bank accounts; seize literature; and prohibit public advocacy such as media statements or speeches.

Naqvi spoke hours after hundreds of enraged PTM supporters clashed with police near Peshawar, the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa border province, resulting in the deaths of at least three activists. 

The violence took place in an area where the PTM had planned to hold a three-day public gathering Friday, called a “Pashtun National Jirga [assembly] Court.” It was intended to protest the civilian casualties and regional losses of property and commerce due to the increased Islamist militancy and army operations to counter the threat.

“We cannot allow anyone to set up a parallel judicial system in the country,” the minister said. “You are allowed to engage in discussions about politics and rights, but you are not allowed to encourage people to revolt against national institutions or to provoke them to take up arms against these institutions,” Naqvi stated. 

The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, or HRCP, denounced the ban on the PTM as “neither transparent nor warranted” and criticized the subsequent use of force by police against the group’s members. 

“We oppose any use of unwarranted and unlawful force against those protesters who are unarmed. The state has already taken disproportionate measures by proscribing the PTM and attempting to prevent it from holding this assembly,” the watchdog said. 

The HRCP noted that a provincial high court ruling had protected PTM supporters’ “right to assemble peacefully.” 

Amnesty International has also demanded Pakistan immediately revoke the ban on the PTM.

“The listing of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement as a proscribed organization, days ahead of their gathering scheduled on 11 October, is part of a systematic and relentless clampdown by the Pakistani authorities on peaceful protests and assemblies by dissenting groups,” the global rights defender said in a Tuesday statement.

“This latest arbitrary ban under overbroad powers of the terror law is only the tip of the iceberg — for years, the Pakistani authorities have suppressed such movements from marginalized regions by resorting to unlawful use of force, enforced disappearances, and media bans on the coverage of protests or rallies,” said Babu Ram Pant, Amnesty’s deputy regional director for South Asia.

Pakistan has experienced a surge in terrorist attacks claimed by or blamed on Tehrik-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which is listed as a terrorist group by the United Nations.

An alliance of banned Pakistani groups, TTP is commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, and its fighters are mainly active in border districts, allegedly conducting cross-border attacks from sanctuaries in Afghanistan with the support of the Taliban government there.
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ISLAMABAD — Hardline Taliban authorities in Afghanistan reported Wednesday that nine people, including at least two women, were publicly flogged after being convicted of various crimes, such as adultery. 

Five of the punishments took place at a sports stadium in Kandahar, capital of the eponymous southern province. Local Taliban officials, judicial officers, and ordinary Afghans were among the onlookers.  

The Taliban’s Supreme Court announced the details, saying the five individuals were found guilty of adultery, sodomy, and robbery, with each of them receiving 39 lashes and prison sentences ranging from two to seven years. It did not say whether females were among the convicts. 

The court separately announced that two men and two women were publicly flogged Wednesday for adultery in the northern Afghan provinces of Takhar and Samangan. 

Hundreds of men and women have been lashed in sports stadiums across Afghanistan since the Taliban regained power in 2021.   

In June this year, the Islamist leaders carried out a mass lashing of 63 convicts, including 14 women, in a packed northern sports stadium for committing “immoral crimes,” such as adultery and homosexuality.  

The Taliban have also executed at least five Afghan murder convicts in crowded sports stadiums, citing the Islamic concept of retributive justice known as qisas. 

Global outcry 

The executions and corporeal punishments have drawn an outcry and calls from the United Nations to immediately end them for being in breach of human rights and international law. 

Taliban leaders defend their criminal justice system, arguing that it is in line with their interpretation of the Islamic law of Sharia. They also rejected criticism of their curbs on Afghan women’s access to education, employment, and public life at large. 

The United States and the world at large have refused to recognize Taliban authorities as the official government of Afghanistan, citing their treatment of women, among other human rights concerns. 

“We continue to make clear that any significant steps towards normalization of relations is contingent upon a profound shift in the Taliban’s human rights conduct,” said Matthew Miller, the U.S. State Department spokesperson, speaking to reporters Tuesday. “And there has been remarkable unity among the international community on that question.” 

Girls ages 12 and older are not allowed to attend secondary school, making Afghanistan the only country in the world with this restriction, while female students have been barred from universities. Most Afghan women are prohibited from working in both public and private sectors, including the U.N. 

The Taliban last month enacted so-called “vice and virtue” laws that, according to critics, have dealt another blow to women’s rights in Afghanistan. The contentious decree deems the sound of a woman’s voice in public a moral violation and requires them to cover their entire bodies and faces when outdoors. It also forbids women from looking at men to whom they are not related and vice versa. 
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TAIPEI, TAIWAN — As Laos hosts this year’s summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Beijing is calling for additions to its free-trade agreement with the regional forum that focus on smart cities, 5G, artificial intelligence and e-commerce.

Ahead of the ASEAN summit, which began Sunday and ends Friday, Chinese state media have stepped up efforts to promote the benefits of what they call an upgrade to the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, or CAFTA, agreement.

Analysts point out that the two sides have not reached agreement on what’s being called “CAFTA 3.0,” and that it remains to be seen whether including China’s electric vehicles and e-commerce would benefit Southeast Asian industries that are struggling to compete with their Chinese counterparts.

“The establishment of a free-trade demonstration zone is actually nothing more than the hope that things can be sold into China,” Ming-Fang Tsai, a professor in the Department of Industrial Economics at Taiwan’s Tamkang University, told VOA.

However, he said the Chinese market is facing a lack of domestic demand and overproduction, leading to price competition.

“So, is the FTA 3.0 really an upgrade? Actually, it is a big question mark,” he said by email.

Nevertheless, some specific areas in the 3.0 agreement still attract the attention of experts, including its focus on the EV industry.

Although ASEAN is also actively developing an EV industry, He Jiangbing, a China-based economist and finance commentator, told VOA if China’s major EV manufacturers pour into Southeast Asia through changes in the agreement, it would likely have a huge impact on the local automobile industries.

“China’s mainland started relatively early in new-energy vehicles and has developed rapidly for 10 years. But the automotive industry in ASEAN is relatively weak. If China’s new-energy vehicles are sold in ASEAN, it will be difficult for Southeast Asian [traditional] car companies to resist,” He said.

Southeast Asia’s own automobile industry will be greatly affected or cease to exist, He said.

But Lu Xi, a senior lecturer at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, told VOA that most of China’s EVs are not getting into Southeast Asia through exports but through production-line transfer, similar to joint ventures, so a price war should not cause a negative impact.

“With the transfer of [China’s EV] manufacturing industry chain, the economic structure of Southeast Asia will undergo a huge transformation,” Lu said by email. “Depending on the current political and economic situation between China and the US, Southeast Asia itself also has a very broad local market and a very good young population structure, so on the whole, the Southeast Asian market should be one of the important engines of economic growth in the whole region in the future.”

Tsai noted that Chinese manufacturers will set up factories in Southeast Asia to avoid the “Made in China” label and restrictions on Chinese products.

“U.S. controls on technology may affect the components of EVs in the future,” he said, “which brings great pressure to Chinese manufacturers.”

In addition to EVs, the 3.0 agreement also focuses on smart cities, 5G, artificial intelligence and e-commerce.

Analysts say China’s e-commerce is already having a negative impact on the region as orders of cheaper Chinese imports and knockoffs are flooding Southeast Asia. Half of the ceramic factories in Thailand’s northern Lampang province have closed, and Indonesian textile workers are facing mass layoffs, the South China Morning Post and the Bangkok Post reported.

“In the face of the massive entry of the [Chinese] e-commerce, frankly speaking, these Southeast Asian countries are relatively uncompetitive,” said Tsai. “Because first, [they] will not be able to compete with China in marketing and sales. Second, [China’s] own products are cheaper.

“If my entire e-commerce system is better than yours,” Tsai said, “and my products are not more expensive than yours, then how can you compete with me?”

Nonetheless, in a September speech for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, in Nanning, China, ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn called on businesses to take full advantage of the partnership as they move toward the changes.

He touted the RCEP, the world’s largest trade bloc, covering nearly 30% of global gross domestic product at $29 trillion and 2.3 billion people across the Asia Pacific region.

“ASEAN’s multidirectional economic relations have been a major driver behind the use of RCEP,” said Hourn, according to a written statement. “China, for example, has remained ASEAN’s largest trading partner for the past 15 years and has also climbed from the 5th largest source of FDI to ASEAN in 2022 to the 3rd largest in 2023. With both RCEP and ACFTA 3.0 in place, I am confident that trade and investment between ASEAN, China, and the rest of the RCEP partners will continue to flourish for the benefit of the people in this wider region.”

ASEAN calls the free-trade agreement ACFTA; Beijing refers to it as CAFTA.

The agreement was established by China and ASEAN in 2009, and the ASEAN-China Summit announced the launch of negotiations for the changes in November 2022.

VOA’s Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
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Voters in Indian-administered Kashmir have rejected the party of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, rebuking the party that revoked the region’s semi-autonomy. VOA correspondent Muheet Ul Islam has more from Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir. Camera: Wasim Nabi
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BEIJING — China has accused Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te of escalating “hostility” and pursuing independence, as the self-ruled island prepared to celebrate its National Day.

China, which split with Taiwan at the end of a civil war in 1949, regards the island as part of its territory that must eventually be reunified, by force if necessary.

Lai, who took power in May after his Democratic Progressive Party won a record third term, has been a vocal defender of Taiwan’s sovereignty, angering Beijing.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for a Chinese body in charge of Taiwan affairs, said Lai had “recycled the ‘Taiwan independence’ fallacy once again” and exposed “his malicious intent to escalate hostility and confrontation.”

Zhu’s remarks, reported by state media late Tuesday, were in response to Lai saying it was “impossible” for China to be the “motherland” of Taiwan.

“One of the most important meanings of these celebrations is that we must remember that we are a sovereign and independent country, and we must always cherish and love our country,” Lai said Saturday ahead of Taiwan’s National Day.

Three members of the U.S. Congress will be among the foreign guests in attendance when Lai delivers his National Day speech on Thursday, which will likely touch on the island’s China policies.

China’s defense spokesman Wu Qian said Wednesday that the United States was “adding fuel to the fire on the Taiwan issue” by providing arms to Taipei, and “pushing Taiwan step by step into a dangerous situation of war.”

Taiwan was on alert for Chinese military drills near the island on National Day after observing “some maritime deployments,” a senior security official told AFP on Wednesday.

Beijing maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and in the past two years China has held three rounds of large-scale war games, deploying aircraft and ships to encircle the island.

Chinese President Xi Jinping recently used his country’s national day celebrations to reiterate his call for the reunification of China and Taiwan.

“Achieving complete national reunification is the common aspiration of the Chinese people,” Xi said.

“It is an irreversible trend, a matter of justice, and it is in accordance with the popular will. No one can stop the march of history,” he said.
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BEIJING — China’s anti-dumping measures against brandies imported from the European Union are “legitimate trade remedy measures,” the commerce ministry said on Wednesday, a day after imposing the temporary curb.

French brands such as Hennessy and Remy Martin will face the strictures, adopted just days after the 27-nation bloc voted for tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs), sparking its biggest trade row with Beijing in a decade.

China’s commerce ministry said preliminary findings of an investigation showed that dumping of brandy from the European Union threatened “substantial damage” to domestic industry.

On Wednesday the ministry said the EU’s actions against Chinese EVs “seriously lack a factual and legal basis” and “clearly violate” World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.

China has protested strongly to the WTO, it added.

Trade tensions have surged since the European Commission said last week it would press ahead with tariffs on China-made EVs, even after Germany, the bloc’s largest economy, rejected them.

Another sign of rising trade tension was the ministry’s remarks on Tuesday that an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation into EU pork products would deliver “objective and fair” decisions when it wraps up.

It also said it was considering a hike in tariffs on imports of large-engine vehicles, which would hit German producers hardest. German exports to China of vehicles with engines 2.5 liters in size, or larger, reached $1.2 billion last year.
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SINGAPORE — The estranged sister of Singapore’s former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong died on Wednesday at 69, after being diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy in 2020.

The death of Lee Wei Ling, a doctor, was announced by her younger brother Lee Hsien Yang on Facebook.

The siblings are the children of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and have been embroiled in a public dispute around what to do with their late father’s house after the elder Lee died in 2015.

The former PM Lee, now a senior minister in the cabinet, wrote on Facebook that despite the rift between him and his siblings, “I held nothing against Ling, and continued to do whatever I could to ensure her welfare.”

He described his sister as a fighter who was “fiercely loyal to friends, sympathized instinctively with the underdog, and would mobilize actively to do something when she saw unfairness, or suspected wrongdoing.”

The late doctor earned the prestigious President’s scholarship and topped her cohort in medical school. Lee never married and stayed with her parents until their deaths.

She helped set up Singapore’s National Neuroscience Institute and served as its director for 11 years. She also regularly contributed columns to the national newspaper, The Straits Times.

Senior minister Lee said his sister had diagnosed herself before the doctors did. “She took it with her usual fortitude and stoicism and posted about it as one of those things in life to be borne and endured. She knew what it meant, and made the most of the time she had, even as her health declined,” he wrote.

When announcing her illness, Wei Ling wrote: “My immediate reaction to the news was ‘ren’, or endure in Chinese, of which the traditional character has a knife above a heart. I have been practicing ‘ren’ since I was in Chinese school, recognizing that life has many unpleasant, unavoidable situations.”
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Washington — The number of madrassas, or religious schools, has increased fourfold under the Taliban in Afghanistan as experts worry that the rise could fuel extremism in the country and limit opportunities for younger Afghans, particularly girls.  

“In the past year, at least 1 million children have been enrolled in madrassas for religious education,” said Karamatullah Akhundzada, the deputy minister of education, in a September news conference.  

The year’s new enrollments brought the total to 3.6 million students at more than about 21,000 madrassas registered in the country, 

This shift marks a change in the educational landscape in Afghanistan, where madrassas now outnumber the more than 18,000 public and private schools.  

Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, founding director of the Center for Governance and Markets at the University of Pittsburgh, told VOA that the increase in the number of madrassas is part of the Taliban’s effort to establish control.  

“It’s important to look at madrassas together with local governance. Under the republic [former Afghan government], there was no formal village governance, but the Taliban have replaced that with religious leaders who now hold local power,” Murtazashvili said. 

Before the Taliban seized power in 2021, there were about 5,000 madrassas registered across Afghanistan.  

After returning to power, the Taliban aimed to transform the education system.  

Officials at the Taliban Ministry of Education said they have taken steps to “revise and reform” textbooks and curricula in the schools in the past three years.  

Before the Taliban, more than 9 million students were enrolled in all types of schools, with 39% of them girls.  

Following the Taliban’s return to power, the group imposed a ban on girls’ secondary education, making Afghanistan the only country in the world to restrict girls from attending secondary school.  

The Taliban ban on secondary education deprived about 1.5 million girls of going to school.  

Murtazashvili sees the ban on girls attending school beyond the sixth grade as a clear sign of extremism.  

“By robbing girls of education, they are robbing the country of its future,” Murtazashvili said, adding that “you’re not going to have a future of women nurses and doctors. You’re going to see mortality increase.”  

One young woman who spoke to VOA but did not want her name used was in 11th grade when the Taliban took power in 2021 and banned secondary education for girls.  

She said she enrolled in a madrassa in Herat City, hoping to continue her education, but was “disappointed.”  

“At first, I thought I could learn and reconnect with friends, but it felt more like brainwashing,” she said, adding that “they kept telling us education wasn’t for us. We should become good housewives and give birth to future Islamic leaders.” 

After three months, “disheartened with the restrictive environment,” she quit the madrassa. 

Mohammad Moheq, former Afghan ambassador to Egypt and author of many books on Islam and Afghanistan, told VOA the Taliban push their strict interpretation of Islam through these madrassas.  

“Their goal is to stop people from thinking for themselves and push their strict version of Islam that fits their political agenda,” Moheq said.  

Madrassas played an important role in the Taliban’s rise to power in the late 1990s as many of the Taliban were graduates of madrassas in neighboring Pakistan.  

In April 2022, the Taliban announced their plan to open three to 10 new madrassas in every district in Afghanistan.  

“Religious sciences should be further taught throughout Afghan society,” said Noorullah Mounir, the then-minister of education, as he urged Afghan teachers to instill an “Islamic belief” in their students. 

Saba Hanif, a professor at the University of Education in Lahore, Pakistan, told VOA that there is a need for the international community to talk to the Taliban to find “a middle ground” and blend religious and “worldly” education.  

“They should agree on certain terms and show the Taliban how purely religious education could harm the country’s future, particularly in terms of job opportunities and economic growth,” Hanif said. 

She added that if children are exposed to “only one way of thinking and one way of living life,” it will perpetuate extremism.  

“This will be quite obvious. And it could be very dangerous for the region because, you know, of their past practices. They try to force it on others, and they also don’t hesitate in using power to control others,” Hanif said.
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Washington — The daughter of imprisoned Chinese real estate tycoon Ren Zhiqiang has issued a public appeal to China’s leader, Xi Jinping, asking him to allow her father to seek medical care he needs after his health reportedly deteriorated during his time in jail.

Ren, 73, is a former member of the Chinese Communist Party and chairman of the state-owned Huayuan real estate group. He was jailed after publishing an essay online in March 2020 that criticized the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an open letter posted on the social media platform WeChat on October 2, Ren Xinyi appealed to the president’s “humanitarian principles,” requesting that Xi release her father so that he may access treatment for his failing health and spend the last part of his life with his family.

Ren Xinyi described her father as a dangerously ill, old man at risk of dying in jail. She wrote that he had long been suffering from a prostate ailment and was prescribed surgical treatment before his imprisonment. Despite previous requests that her father be allowed to undergo surgery, Ren has not yet been permitted the care his family seeks.

“I am willing to promise that my father will never make any public remarks or content after he goes abroad for treatment. He is over 70 years old and seriously ill. He has no ability to cause trouble to you and the country,” Ren Xinyi told Xi in the letter.

Before his incarceration and in his prime, the former businessman was nicknamed “Cannon Ren,” a name he gained for how frequently, and publicly, he called party policy into question. But for his release, Ren’s daughter writes that her father won’t go back to his old ways.

In a translated version of the essay that prompted his arrest, Ren wrote: “The reality shown by this epidemic is that the party defends its own interests, the government officials defend their own interests, and the monarch only defends the status and interests of the core.”

The businessman also called for freedom of speech so that citizens could better protect themselves through open discourse.

In a secretive trial, Ren was sentenced to 18 years in jail on counts of corruption, bribery and embezzlement of public funds. He was also fined about $600,000.

His daughter’s letter was initially published to a WeChat group that included friends of Ren. One of the group’s members, political commentator and U.S. resident Cai Shenkun, confirmed to VOA that pictures released of the letter were genuine.

“In the past few years, some friends and people from all walks of life have tried to help Ren, because after all, Ren was a bold and outspoken person in the past,” said Cai.

Anna Wang, founder of Photon Media and a former business owner in China, also confirmed the authenticity of the letter with several friends in Beijing familiar with Ren Zhiqiang.  

“This letter is very powerful, and it’s also a call to action,” Wang said. “I think this daughter is also very brave.”

“In China, if you want to live a life of despicable behavior, you can live well,” she continued. “But if you want to engage in any activities that promote national progress and democracy, it will come at a painful and huge price.”

In a final plea for Xi’s kindness, the letter concluded, “President Xi Jinping, we have previously raised the above request several times through normal channels but have never received a good response. We have no choice but to use this method to reflect our desperate request to you.”

The Chinese government has not publicly commented on the open petition from Ren’s daughter. 

When asked by VOA to comment on the letter, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington D.C. said: “the Chinese government protects the lawful rights of every citizen in accordance with the law.”

(Katherine Michaelson contributed to this story.)
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India and the Maldives have reset ties that plummeted as Maldivian President Mohammed Muizzu leaned toward China after taking office a year ago. Muizzu’s outreach to India during a visit to New Delhi comes amid an economic downturn in his tiny country. Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi.
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SRINAGAR, Indian-administered Kashmir — Kashmir’s biggest political party opposed to India’s stripping of the region’s semi-autonomy won the most seats in a local election, official data showed Tuesday, in a vote seen as a referendum against the move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

National Conference, or NC, won 42 seats, mainly from the Kashmir Valley, the heartland of the anti-India rebellion, according to the data. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party secured 29 seats, all from the Hindu-dominated areas of Jammu.

India’s main opposition Congress party, which fought the election in alliance with the NC, succeeded in six constituencies.

“People have supported us more than our expectations. Now our efforts will be to prove that we are worth these votes,” Omar Abdullah, the NC leader and the region’s former chief minister, told reporters in the main city of Srinagar.

His father and president of the party, Farooq Abdullah, said that the mandate was to run the region without “police raj [rule]” and try freeing people from jails. “Media will be free,” he said. “People have given their mandate, they have proven that they don’t accept the decision that was taken on August 5,” he added referring to India’s move in August 2019.

The vote will allow Kashmir to have its own truncated government and a regional legislature, called an assembly, rather than being directly under New Delhi’s rule.

However, there will be a limited transition of power from New Delhi to the assembly as Kashmir will remain a “union territory” — directly controlled by the federal government — with India’s Parliament as its main legislator. Kashmir’s statehood must be restored for the new government to have powers similar to other states of India.

Hundreds of the NC workers gathered outside counting centers and at the homes of the winning candidates to celebrate the party’s victory.

It was the first such vote in a decade and the first since Modi’s Hindu nationalist government scrapped the Muslim-majority region’s long-held semi-autonomy in 2019.

The unprecedented move downgraded and divided the former state into two centrally governed union territories, Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir. Both are ruled directly by New Delhi through its appointed administrators along with unelected bureaucrats and security setup. The move — which largely resonated in India and among Modi supporters — was mostly opposed in Kashmir as an assault on its identity and autonomy amid fears that it would pave the way for demographic changes in the region.

The region has since been on edge with civil liberties curbed and media gagged.

India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. The nuclear-armed rivals have fought two of their three wars over the territory since they gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.

Authorities tallied votes as thousands of additional police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled roads and guarded 28 counting centers. Nearly 8.9 million people were eligible to vote in the election, which began on Sept. 18 and concluded on Oct. 1. The overall turnout was 64% across the three phases, according to official data.

In the region’s legislature, five seats are appointed and 90 elected, so a party or coalition would need at least 48 of the 95 total seats to form a government. The alliance of the National Conference and the Congress have 48 seats combined.

Authorities have said the election will bring democracy to the region after decades of strife, but many locals viewed the vote as an opportunity not only to elect their own representatives but also to register their protest against the 2019 changes.

Except for the BJP, most parties who contested the election campaigned on promises to reverse the 2019 changes and address key issues like rising unemployment and inflation. The Congress party favored restoring the region’s statehood. The BJP has also stated that it will restore statehood, but has not told when it would do.

The BJP has vowed to block any move aimed at undoing most of the 2019 changes but promised to help in the region’s economic development.

Meanwhile, Modi’s BJP appears to be heading for a victory in the northern state of Haryana, bordering New Delhi, which it has ruled for 10 years, leading in 50 constituencies and the Congress in 35 out of 90.

The BJP has so far won 18 seats and is leading in 32 constituencies while the Congress has won 15 seats and is leading in 20, according to the Election Commission of India.

A victory would give the BJP a record third five-year term in the state.

The voting trend in Haryana state is a surprise since most exit polls had predicted an easy victory for the Congress party.

Kashmir’s last assembly election was held in 2014, after which the BJP for the first time ruled in a coalition with the local Peoples Democratic Party. But the government collapsed in 2018 after the BJP withdrew from the coalition.

Polls in the past have been marked with violence, boycotts and vote-rigging, even though India called them a victory over separatism.

Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and many Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
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Washington — Despite ongoing U.S. sanctions targeting Chinese companies linked to Uyghur forced labor in Xinjiang, United States-based footwear and apparel company Skechers opened a new outlet in Urumqi, the region’s capital.

The store opened on September 28, days before Chinese national holiday week, one of the country’s busiest shopping periods.

Its opening has drawn criticism from human rights advocates who question Skechers’ decision to expand its presence in a region under international scrutiny and subject to U.S. import bans on goods tied to forced labor.

Jewher Ilham, forced labor project coordinator at the Worker Rights Consortium, expressed concern over Skechers’ decision.

“By opening a store in the Uyghur region, Skechers is making a shocking statement that it does not care about human rights,” she said.

Skechers did not respond to multiple requests for comment from VOA.

Xinjiang, in northwest China, has been at the center of international controversy over allegations of human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities, including forced labor, mass incarceration and repression — claims Chinese authorities have consistently denied. Xinjiang produces one-fifth of the world’s cotton.

In response, the United States passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in 2022, which bars goods from Xinjiang unless proven to be free of forced labor.

Skechers promoted its Urumqi store opening heavily on Chinese social media, with actor and brand ambassador Donnie Yen encouraging his nearly 130 million followers on Weibo to visit the outlet and explore its “comfortable treasures.”

Yen did not respond to multiple media inquiries from VOA regarding his visit to Xinjiang or his views on the treatment of Uyghurs by Chinese authorities.

Timothy Grose, an associate professor of China studies at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, pointed out that “from a profit-seeking perspective, of course, Donnie Yen makes sense, especially since nearly 75% of Urumqi’s population is Han Chinese.”

“Unfortunately, few Han are either fully aware or are concerned about state violence against the Uyghurs, so I doubt they will be judging Donnie Yen’s appearance with their moral compasses,” he told VOA.

Corporate responsibility

This isn’t the first time Skechers has faced scrutiny over alleged ties to forced labor in Xinjiang.

In response to a 2020 report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute alleging its supplier employed Uyghur workers under coercive conditions, Skechers denied the allegations. The company said audits of its supplier, Dong Guan Lu Zhou Shoes, found no evidence of forced labor, and that Uyghur workers were employed under the same terms as other employees.

Skechers’ recent move comes as the U.S. continues to intensify its efforts to eliminate forced labor from global supply chains. On October 2, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security added two more Chinese companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, bringing the total number of restricted entities to 75.

“Today’s actions reaffirm our commitment to eliminating forced labor from U.S. supply chains and upholding our values of human rights for all,” DHS undersecretary for policy Robert Silvers said in a statement on the DHS website. “No sector is off-limits. We will continue to identify entities across industries and hold accountable those who seek to profit from exploitation and abuse.”

Chinese pushback

In China, Western companies that publicly declared a break from sourcing products from Xinjiang have long faced backlash from Chinese consumers.

In September, PVH, parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, became the first Western firm investigated by Chinese authorities, who accused the company of violating Chinese law by allegedly halting the purchase of cotton and garments from Xinjiang.

Corporate responsibility in Xinjiang has become a contentious issue. Grose pointed out that companies like Skechers may view doing business in Xinjiang and China as a safe financial bet, despite human rights concerns.

The company’s actions are a stark reminder that companies should be held accountable not just by governments but by consumers, as well, said Adrian Zenz, a senior fellow and director in China studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.

“[B]rands are simply out for profit, with no regard to human rights,” he said. “Western consumers are not showing much outrage over this. There is little backlash, so they will do it,” Zenz said.
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moscow — Russian President Vladimir Putin is to meet Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian for talks Friday at a forum in the Central Asian country of Turkmenistan, a senior aide said Monday. 

Yury Ushakov, Putin’s aide on foreign policy, told journalists the leaders would meet in Ashgabat while attending an event celebrating a Turkmen poet. 

“This meeting has great significance both for discussing bilateral issues as well as, of course, discussing the sharply escalated situation in the Middle East,” Ushakov said. 

Leaders of Central Asian countries are meeting to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the birth of 18th-century poet Magtymguly Pyragy. 

Putin’s attendance had not been previously announced. 

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin visited Iran last week for talks with Pezeshkian and First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref. 

The talks come as Israel intensively bombs Lebanon, targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah, and Russia has evacuated some citizens. 

Russia has close relations with Iran, and Western governments have accused Tehran of supplying Moscow with drones and missiles, which it has repeatedly denied. 

Pezeshkian will also hold talks with Putin during a visit to Russia this month to participate in a BRICS summit of emerging economies. 
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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country will speed up steps toward becoming a military superpower with nuclear weapons and would not rule out using them if enemies attacked it, state media KCNA said on Tuesday.

Kim made the comments in a speech on Monday at a university, which was printed in full by KCNA.

He said he has no intention of attacking South Korea, but “if the enemy attempts to use force against our country” North Korea’s military will use all aggression without hesitation, which “does not preclude the use of nuclear weapons.”.=

Kim also called for extensive strengthening of North Korea’s defenses, according to KCNA.

He also sent a birthday message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, KCNA said. Kim called Putin his “closest Comrade”, saying “strategic and cooperative relations” between the two countries will be raised to a new level to work on “defending regional and global peace and international justice.”
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